On November 30 representatives of Rosemont met with County officials to discuss concerns about apparent crime problems in our community. Over the past year it appears that we have experienced an increase in a variety of illegal activity here. On the other hand, could that appearance be the result of greatly heightened awareness of and communication about such activity? Either way, it is activity that Rosemont does not want and cannot tolerate if we are to thrive as a stable and desirable community. This concern drove RCA to seek the meeting so we could explore present service levels and options for addressing and resolving these problems.

Supervisor Don Notolli arranged the meeting with Sheriff Scott Jones and East Area Sheriff’s Commander Doug Diamond. Rosemont was represented by RCA President Doug Haaland, RCF President Gary Vorce, RCA Vice President Terry Dugan, and community volunteer and Neighborhood Watch leader Linda Kenner. Rosemont POP Officer Tyler Neff also joined the Sheriff’s delegation. 

Rosemont described the many activities it has already undertaken or is launching to help reduce illegal activity here, among them a growing Neighborhood Watch program, a Facebook based information network for sharing about suspicious or criminal activity, a graffiti abatement group of volunteers, a network of local businesses, and a community cleanup program. We described several proposals and requests Rosemont made to further improve conditions here, including a close working relationship with our schools, a network of existing security systems, expanded youth programs, and a program of volunteers to assist the Sheriff’s Department. Some of these proposals were building on ideas expressed by Sheriff Jones when he addressed the RCA annual meeting last April.

The Sheriff indicated several initiatives he expected to launch in the next few month that should benefit Rosemont, including the volunteer assistance program, an expand youth outreach program specifically including Rosemont, and continuing the POP officer program in Rosemont.

The key points covered in the meeting were summarized in a letter to Notolli from RCA and RCF so that all involved had a record of the discussion on which future meetings could be based. Supervisor Notolli indicated he would convene such a meeting in several months to assure that satisfactory progress is being made.

RCF and RCF thank Supervisor Notolli and Sheriff Jones for their commitment to keep Rosemont safe and desirable. We also wish to thank Commander Diamond for his support of efforts on behalf of Rosemont, and we wish him well in his new position as Chief of Police in West Jordan , Utah.

The letter summarizing the meeting is in the right hand column.  If you have ideas on how we can help make Rosemont safer and more desirable, please share them with us via our web site “contact us” block at www.rosemontca.org. 

Hon. Don Notolli

Supervisor, Fifth District

County of Sacramento

700 H Street, Suite 2400

Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Don:

Thank you again for arranging the meeting with Sheriff Jones, you and our Rosemont group last week. We hope you will agree it was a helpful first conversation about how we can work together to solve the problems Rosemont is facing.

We are sure you sensed the seriousness which we have regarding the future of our community.  Despite the numbers presented, the reality is that for numerous reasons it feels we are fighting an uphill battle with less than the needed level of reinforcements. And we think it is more than just a heightened awareness of problems. Even if it is, then that is good news because we than can act to deal with them. We will analyze the report Sheriff Jones gave us, but we find it hard to believe our community has had such a precipitous decline in problems when we are experiencing the contrary. Regardless, we need to reduce problems until they are the rare exception rather than the rule.

We understand that our problems are part of a larger complex of issues throughout the County. That is why we are so keen to take the lead in doing all we can to act as a community and not depend passively on only public services. For the record, here are some of the initiatives we have already begun or are ready to undertake:

• Expanded Neighborhood Watch programs from 8 to 22, and we are still growing
• Began a e-network of the Neighborhood Watch programs so we can quickly alert members to developing or recent issues
• Began a Facebook-based “Rosemont Eye” allowing residents to share information and alerts, and keep up on recent criminal activity in Rosemont 
• Began a graffiti abatement team to quickly remove tags
• Launched the Revitalizing Rosemont project and won a grant to assist in stepping up our efforts to clean up the community, enhance its image, reach out to new residents and businesses, and create a more positive “brand” by which people can get a greater sense of pride in where they live and work
• Beginning a Rosemont Business Network to help support our local business community be more successful and safer
• Began working very closely with all our schools to improve their reputations, increase their involvement in the community, and increase the community’s support for the schools and our students
• Have direct outreach to local landlords, including the owners of Rosemont Plaza, in an effort to achieve property improvements and code compliance
• Collaborated with County agencies to coordinate clean up days
• Sponsored an Adopt-a-Street program along Kiefer Blvd.
• Co-hosted a Coffee-with-a-Cop session bringing residents and businesses together to discuss concerns informally with representatives of the SSD
• Offered to assist the SSD with a volunteer service program
• Offered to help arrange a surveillance registry program to identify where security cameras are that might provide evidence in crime cases

And we stand ready to do whatever else is possible and useful.




As you no doubt sensed at the meeting, there is a rising level of frustration in Rosemont regarding our safety and our overall appearance and economic condition. Several people have even proposed closing the Starfire entrance through which it seems those with criminal intent easily come and go. We also see continuing evidence that the Norcade Circle problem has not yet been solved, and that there is a growing problem around the businesses along Folsom east of Mayhew. Rosemont seems to be the recipient of visitations by some of the folks from those areas – residents who do not have our best interests in mind. As enforcement pressures mount to our east and west, the trouble-makers seek a nearby safe haven, which unfortunately seems to be Rosemont.




Some of the suggestions we would make, and offer our assistance in accomplishing, include:

• Identifying all of the halfway homes that house persons with any kind of a criminal justice record, so as to be sure the homes are properly licensed and managed, knowing who is living there at all times, and assuring that they are properly monitored as allowed by law.
• Holding management of such homes accountable for complying with all their requirements, including reporting when they suspect criminal behavior by any of their residents.  These people should be mandated reporters.
• Assuring that no neighborhood has more than its proportionate share of such homes so that the negative effects they often bring do not degrade any community (which only diminishes any good effects putting such home into neighborhoods might offer).
• Reviewing the procedures and restrictions on effective probation and parole management to make needed changes that will protect communities; as more people with records return to communities, such effective monitoring is vital.
• Providing levels of service from all aspects of law enforcement that supports a community in its efforts to maintain and enhance its safety and quality of life.
• Reviewing the arrangements for school resource officers in the unincorporated areas so that there is a seamless service level; the present arrangement can leave gaps between what the SPD and the SSD do, particularly off campus and after school.
• Increasing attention to before and after school student behaviors, particularly when students (and former students) traverse through a neighborhood that is not their own and where they may be known. (Perhaps a joint effort with RT and the SCUSD would help address this concern.)
• Increasing opportunities for young people to be productively occupied during non-school hours. Perhaps joint efforts with an effective SAL or CRPD program could help, including the establishment of a community center with activities for students.
• Finding ways where presently unemployed persons might assist in operating some of these programs, which would be of benefit to them and to all.

Again, RCA stands ready to do all we can to take such actions as these and others.

Should we not succeed in improving things we will all lose: property values will not recover, homeowners will continue to struggle with upside down homes, and businesses will suffer and close (presently Rose Point is largely vacant and the Rosemont Plaza is half vacant with another store set to close next month, and we get no interest from the owner in improving that situation). Needless to say, we all will be worse off, including the County coffers. Before that happens, we in Rosemont will need to consider other alternatives for securing and assuring our good future.

While we commend the Sheriff’s desire to re-think how law enforcement is delivered, and we hope those efforts are successful beyond dreams, we still have problems today that cannot wait. There seems to be ample evidence that these problems are largely youth and gang related. As we noted, even simply having law enforcement be present where youth are gathered with no good reason and contacting them to determine who they are and what they are doing will discourage troublesome assemblies and also signal to businesses and residents that there is attention being given to our community.

As we stated, the Rosemont Community Association stands ready to do all we can to assist and leverage the public services needed to stem the deteriorating conditions brought about by diminished law enforcement and code enforcement. We are asking to be  kept informed of proposals, included in deliberations, and involved in the execution of programs so that we can help assure that they have the desired effect with the least cost.

And we remind you that we have the Rosemont Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) foundation, by which we can receive support from tax deductible donations and which can add flexibility to our ability to act.

Don, we do appreciate all that you have done for Rosemont over the years, and for your effective support of our effort to make and keep Rosemont a great community.

Finally, Don, thank you for your offer to meet again to be sure our mutual efforts and interests progress effectively. We look forward to that meeting, tentatively set for March 21, 2012.

We strongly believe that with our involvement, together we can make Rosemont a model for how a community can enhance its conditions and quality, even in these difficult times.

Sincerely,

Doug Haaland

President

Rosemont Community Association

Gary Vorce

President

Rosemont Community Foundation

C: Sheriff Scott Jones